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Maserati 3500 GTI Monogram 1:25


johnlambert

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I had an email from my local model shop to tell me that my paint is in stock.  Unfortunately I couldn't go and pick it up, so it's good that I'm not yet ready for paint.  I have managed to make a little more progress.

 

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I've sanded down the part number and ejector pin marks in the roof, I've also masked off the hinge mounting points so the hinges can be glued.  I think I need to add a little more putty around the grille.

 

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The inner wing panels have the part numbers, the numbers probably won't be visible inside the wheel arches but they have been sanded down just the same.

 

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The rear valance is fitted, filled and sanded but the first primer coat will probably highlight areas for improvement.

 

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Firewall and inner wing panels, not fixed to the chassis but glued to each other.  The tape on the chassis is to protect the mounting lugs; I've masked the corresponding parts on the floor panel.

 

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Parcel shelf glued to the back seat (the chassis is just there so it would stand up for the photo).  I'll file down the sharp corner at the top of the back seat as it doesn't look very realistic at the moment.

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Two steps forward and one step back.

 

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A test fit; the interior floor is primed, checking that the inner wings fit the shell and the height of the parcel shelf is a reasonable fit to the rear window.

 

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Another look from a lower angle.  The front seats need lifting up a bit.

 

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Then break it down and put the first coat of primer; as expected this shows all the flaws.

 

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That won't do!

 

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A couple of sink marks, one needs a bit more filling.  I scribed out the fuel filler, which I think was worthwhile.

 

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Not quite flawless at the front either, but not too bad given all the putty in there.

 

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At least the grille seems to fit.

 

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Chassis, inner wings and floor are primed.  The chassis, inner wings and underside of the floor will get a spray of satin black.  Possibly with a bit of grey to pick out the front springs (but who will see them?).

 

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I've also put some chrome on the window frames, I was worried these would be a bit heavy but they're actually quite delicate (like the real thing) but a little tidying is required and maybe a bit of a dark wash for the opening quarter window frames.

 

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Engine, with the inlet side dry assembled.

 

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Some pictures show red/brown caps on the spark plugs, so I decided to add a little Tamiya Hull Red, but first a bit of masking to prevent unwanted paint spots.

 

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Plugs painted, although it's hard to tell, along with silver details on the injectors and various fixings.

 

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Some Valejo steel paint on the exhaust manifold, fan and anti-roll bar.

 

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My cheap airbrush isn't really suited to Valejo paints, I think, and I was worried that I'd put too much paint on the fan, but it seems to have come out OK.  It's not like the front of the fan will be too visible once the car is together.

 

The body will need a fair bit of sanding back and fixing (to be expected), but other than that it's been steady progress.

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Making a little progress with this one.

 

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The floor has been painted in Tamiya Buff, I was worried that it wasn't that different from the plastic colour but the seats show it's quite different.  The seats themselves are too low as designed.  Pictures of the real car show the seats to be level with or slightly higher than the transmission tunnel and they sit on runners.

 

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First attempt isn't quite high enough, the seat back should also be more level with the top of the door.  Runners are "L" section styrene.

 

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Second go, looks almost like seat runners.  I also need to beef up the seat backs a little and make them more curved.

 

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That looks a little more promising.

 

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I've also given the body a rub down and I'll see if I've tidied the seams up enough with a second primer coat.

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Here's the latest Maserati update.

 

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I sprayed some filler primer to try and help fill the little flaws.

 

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Touching in a few minor flews with different filler primer used for stone chip repair.

 

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A bit at the rear.

 

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The chassis has received a coat of Halfords satin black.

 

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More mocking up the engine, I'm quite happy with the colour of the exhaust manifolds, although I think they should look a little more weathered if the car has been used.  Ignore the blutack BTW.

 

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Fan painted in steel, as far as I can tell the fan on the real engine is made of metal.

 

I've got the paint for the body now, I just wish I was ready to spray the bodywork, but it will be worth getting the preparation right before the top coat goes on.

 

 

 

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A little more progress, although at the moment it feels like I'm mostly priming and sanding.  I did manage a bit more progress on the seats.

 

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I cut around the seat backs on a piece of 0.5mm styrene sheet.

 

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The sheet was bonded to the back of the seat.

 

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The outer edges were then sanded down and rounded off.

 

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A coat of Tamiya Fine Surface primer and they don't look too bad.

 

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I used the same primer on some more pieces.  You can just about see where I've attacked the gear lever gaiter with a file to try and make it look more like a piece of leather and less like a cone of plastic.

 

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Body panels primed. Although there is still a bit more sanding and probably at least one more primer coat.

 

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My reference photos showed that the inner firewall is carpeted and the boot floor also needed another coat of the same colour so they were sprayed with some Tamiya Buff.  My reference photos show the inner wheel arches are trimmed to match the seats, as is the rear half of the transmission tunnel; so there will be some careful masking and spraying. Then the whole top surface of the floor will need masking so that the visible part of the under side can be painted satin black.

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Always worth getting the back of the seats filled, good on you for doing that even if it does land you in sanding hell - I've never understood why so many kit manufacturers will give you loads of detail elsewhere, then happily leave the seats with no backs when they're easily visible.

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Thanks @Spiny the seat backs were at least solid to begin with, but should be more curved than they were and the seats looked a little thin.  I'm quite pleased with how they've turned out.  But it does seem that seat backs are a common oversight for kit manufacturers.

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Not many pictures but I've been beavering away on the Maserati.  I think the body is sanded, filled and as good as I can get it; I've given it a coat of primer and also primed all the panels.

 

A lot of the interior parts have been given a spray of Tamiya Hull Red.

 

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This is the first time I've had a chance to compare the upholstery and body colour; the dashboard is Tamiya Pearl Light Blue over Tamiya Fine Surface Primer; I really like the light blue, it's got a very fine flake and should look amazing on the car body.  I'm not entirely sure about the seat colour, but it needs another coat of paint.

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Quickly taking stock on progress made since the last update.

 

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Getting there with the interior painting.  A lot of this kit is tricky because parts need painting on both sides; the inner wheel arches need to be black on the chassis side but were trimmed to match the upholstery on the top.  There are a few little bits that need touching up, but it's getting there.

 

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The inside of the roof was sprayed white to represent the white headlining; it's Tamiya fine surface primer, Halfords gloss appliance white and Halfords matt lacquer.  The face of the back seat was primed with the same fine surface primer, which I prefer for complex moulded parts as it doesn't really need sanding down.

 

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Here's the headlining with the masking stripped away.  The boot interior needs a coat of Tamiya Hull Red and the inside of the front wings needs a coat of satin black.  I'd rather paint the inside of the body and correct any over spray on parts that are likely to be less visible, rather than paint the outside then the interior and find I've got overspray on the outside of the body.

 

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Imagine how disappointing this overspray would be on a nicely colour painted body.  This was a test fit to check that everything fitted together.

 

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Getting that fit required a little surgery to the inside of the transmission tunnel.  Most of the floor area is hidden, hence the uneven masking around the locating holes for the chassis, but it should help everything glue together.  The black paint will be retouched.

 

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A little material also needed to be removed from the chassis "tubes" to allow the gearbox to sit low enough; it doesn't look too bad from the underside.

 

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This was pre "surgery" it doesn't look too bad.

 

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Top side of the chassis and floor.  I need to add another ashtray in front of the gear lever.

 

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Satin black for the inside of the bonnet and boot, as far as I can tell this is how the real cars are finished.  Again, masking is necessary when the body colour goes on, but I'd rather retouch satin black than light pearl blue.

 

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One of the reasons I'm enjoying this build is that there is an engine to fiddle with; I've added some 5 amp fuse wire to represent the fuel injection lines.  The pipe runs are probably wrong but most of the ones I've seen look pretty messy and all the "pipes" are the same length, which seems to be how the real thing was laid out.  The generator has been added with a "belt" painted Tamiya Nato Black, which looks more like rubber to me than Tamiya's Rubber Black paint.

 

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Close-up of the engine bay with the exhaust manifolds in place.

 

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This is supposed to be the cable conduit for the ignition leads, all twelve of them.  The good thing is that you don't have to try and get the firing order correct as the plug leads disappear into the conduit and emerge individually, but I can't see how to make the kit part look right.

 

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Here's an attempt at something better, it's a bit of sprue with twelve holes drilled down the length and holes in each end.  More 5 amp fuse wire will be used for the plug leads.

 

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Oil filter and distributor with the chrome plating removed. The kit distributor looks a bit under-nourished and only has terminals for six plug leads!  A bit of plastic tube should slip over the end and beef it up a bit.  I'm not going to worry too much about getting the leads in the right place, it should look like a mass of wires and it will be quite hard to see once it's all together.

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It doesn't feel like there is much to show for today's effort.

 

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Today's lesson is that Tamiya Hull Red in a jar is not the same colour as the stuff in the spray can.  Fortunately it doesn't look too bad when put together, but I need to make sure the paint goes a bit further towards the wheel arches.  The front end is brush painted Tamiya Semi Gloss black.  The window surrounds on the real thing are drimmed with a thick black boarder, so I'm not too worried about the masking around the windscreen.

 

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I decided to glue the grille surround in place, so that I could fill any gaps; I used a mixture of superglue and talcum powder as a glue/filler, which seems to work quite well.  Not sure how I'll do the grille itself.

 

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I've also given the face of the back seat a couple of spray coats of Tamiya Hull red; at the same time the sides of the front seats got an extra coat, as they were looking a little patchy.

 

Next jobs:

1. Brush some more hull red on the inner rear wings.

2. When that's dry, coat the inside of the body with liquid mask.

3. A bit more primer at the front.

4. Give it a colour coat.

 

There's lots more to do after that, but that's the next three or four days covered.

 

Thank you for watching.

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Slight change to the previously stated plan.

 

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Boot interior painted where the grey primer was showing, I need to decant some hull red to paint the top of the seat cushion and the trim on the insides of the wheel arches.

 

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It didn't make sense to mask the interior without doing the internal window surrounds first; there is a piece of Tamiya flexible masking tape to define the edge of the windscreen trim.  When it's dry I'll do the side windows; I don't want to try and do too much at once and risk messing it up.  I managed to get some black paint on the outside of the body where my hand-eye coordination failed for a moment.  Easily cleaned off with a bit of IPA on a cotton bud and no worry on primer; more of a problem if it had been painted bodywork.

 

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Oil filter glued in place.

 

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Distributor added and you can see some green painted fuse wire to make the plug leads.  I've seen all sorts of colour plug leads but I quite liked the green ones on the car I'm using as my main point of reference.

 

The new immediate action plan is to do the rest of the window frames, then mask the inside before spraying the outside of the body.  I'll also do the rest of the spark plug wiring, there's no photo but I've used my chrome pen to touch up the chrome on the conduit I made and I'm letting it dry fully before touching it.

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Time for a quick, midweek progress update.

 

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Ignition wires like some strange millipede.

 

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I haven't worked out how to stick the plug leads to the plugs and a few leads have got lost but it's better than nothing.  At least I hope it is.

 

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Interior window surrounds and the seat back touched up with decanted spray paint, I still need to do the trim on the wheel arches.

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Hi John

 

To stick the plug leads to the plugs could you brush some slightly diluted PVA? Big disclaimer: I've not tried this so this is just an idea not a tried and verified method!😁

 

Thinking is as PVA dries clear hopefully it won't be seen.

 

Nick

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Taking advantage of a day off to make some more progress.

 

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Last night I painted masking fluid over the inside of the body.

 

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I really hope this is the last coat of primer and I can give it the gentlest rub down without burning through so that I can apply some colour soon.

 

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Something that doesn't seem right is the handbrake, which seems too long, mounted in the wrong place and should have a leather gaiter.  As supplied it is chrome plated, so that was stripped.

 

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Cut down and imbedded in some putty, the gaiter should match the upholstery and the grip should be black.

 

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Interior tub coming together.  I've added a front ash tray from a bit of sprue, cut down, with a curve filed in the underside so it sits on the transmission tunnel (which, in truth, should be squarer in cross-section).  Gear lever is glued in place, as is the passenger seat; the driver's seat is just posed there for the photo as it can't go down until the hand brake is in place.  Both ash trays were painted with Molotow chrome pen, I can't remember what I used to paint the metal part of the gear lever but it might have been aluminium paint and the gear lever is gloss black.  The seat runners (not that you can really see them) are satin black.

 

Plan for the interior is to add some heel mats from black painted masking tape, as the car I'm mostly taking inspiration from has black rubber mats for the driver and passenger's feet.  I might also see about adding some red painted ribbon to represent the front seat belts.

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Time for a second update today.

 

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Spot the difference with the previous interior picture.  Just checking that the hand brake will fit next to the seat.

 

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Door cards, the circular items are (I think) for the quarterlights, the 3500GT being a 2+2 it's nice that the back seat passengers can control the ventilation.  However, they are in the wrong place; there should be a body colour strip at the top of the door and a bright metal kick plate halfway up the lower section of the door card.  On the right, I've scraped off the circular bits.

 

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Modified door cards; I've scored a line at the top, on the left I was able to remove the circles relatively undamaged and glue them back closer to the right position, on the right I've improvised with a bit of plastic tube (actually from cotton buds), plus tiny squares of styrene to represent the electric window switches.  I think I'll just use paint to represent the metal kick panel.

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Not much of an update, but an important step.  First spray of colour.

 

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Not much to say, but I like the way the colour looks.  I'm not sure whether to rub it down and give it a second coat.

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It may not seem like a bit step, but applying to colour is always a big step visually, and is where you know if your choice of colour was good or you've just dropped a massive clanger. I'd say you've chosen well looking the pics above.

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45 minutes ago, Spiny said:

It may not seem like a bit step, but applying to colour is always a big step visually, and is where you know if your choice of colour was good or you've just dropped a massive clanger. I'd say you've chosen well looking the pics above.

Thanks.  I was fairly confident but it's not until you actually get the paint on the car that you know for sure.

 

I like this colour and I may use it again; it's a bit like a Jaguar light metallic blue so it might do for my Mk.II or maybe the Ferrari 275?

 

As for the Maserati, there is still plenty to do, but it's starting to feel like there might be a half-decent model at the end of the journey.  This kit has its challenges but I've found it quite satisfying so far.

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I've given the body of the Maserati a light rub down and a second coat of paint, but I didn't take any pictures of that.

 

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Here's the interior with the handbrake and driver's seat glued in place; I think the brake looks much better than the chrome thing supplied in the kit.  The grip is painted Tamiya gloss black with a dot of Molotow chrome for the button. 

 

The dashboard looks a bit of a mess but that's because there is some masking to protect the body colour.  The passenger grab handle is glued in place and Blutac is holding it in position until the glue sets (a couple of locating pips in the plastic would have been appreciated).  I wondered if the grab handle should be blended into the dashboard with filler, but on the real thing it was clearly a separate piece so the join line is prototypical.  Once the glue is dry I'll give a final coat of Halfords satin black, then I can strip the masking off and it might turn out OK.

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